DKIT GAA book their place in Fresher League final

Dundalk IT were left rejoicing at the end of an exciting Fresher League semi final, as they held off SETU Carlow by a two-point margin in a game where the Louth college had to dig deep to eke out victory.

On the balance of play, DKIT ought to have had victory sown up by the end of normal time. However, the concession of a second half penalty for a foul on the excellent Carlow forward Ben Corkery which he converted, inspired a late comeback from the the home side, who fought their way back in the last 10 minutes, with DKIT having led by 0-12 to 0-7 after 50 minutes.

Moments before Louth under 20 player Cormac McKeown pointed to put five between the sides, DKIT came agonisingly close to grabbing their first major, when a neat move saw Oisin McGorman dance his way through the Carlow cover, only to see his strike smash back off the crossbar, while Carlow keeper Daire Phelan saved the follow up from sub Kyle Doherty.

Following this, Ben Corkery who finished with 1-11 to his credit, fired home from the spot, as Carlow outscored DKIT by 1-3 to 0-1 late on to send us into extra time.

Despite the frustration of seeing their lead evaporate, DKIT regrouped to finish the job in extra time, with the excellent Oisin McGorman once again working his magic from frees, before setting up Geraldines man Thomas MacNamara to put his side ahead in the second period of ET.

A late melee saw SETU Carlow reduced to 14 men, and DKIT capitalised, with John Joe Hughes’ intricate kick pass finding DD Reilly, whose goal attempt was tipped over the bar by Daire Phelan to give Dundalk a two point lead, which proved to be enough to see them through.

First Half:

It was DKIT who started the brighter, landing five points in the opening 10 minutes to take a 0-5 to no score lead.

Key to this was the Dundalk’s effective press on the Carlow kick out, winning 4 out of 9 on the home side’s kickout in the first half of normal time, and 12 out of 26 including extra time.

Oisin McGorman who was instrumental in so much for DKIT, landed the opening score, which was quickly followed by a free from keeper Kian Mulligan following a foul on Cormac McKeown.

Liam McCauley fired over DKIT’s third score in the 4^th minute, in a move which began with a turnover from Roche Emmets’ Fionn Connolly who worked tirelessly up and down his wing.

Following a foul on Liam O’Hanlon, John Joe Hughes converted a free, before Eoin O’Hanlon who was hugely effective at winning breaks on kickouts, gave DKIT that 0-5 to no score lead inside the opening 10 minutes.

Despite failing to trouble the scoreboard in the first quarter, Carlow rattled off three scores without reply to narrow the gap, with forward Ben Corkery a one man scoring band for most parts for the home side.

Corkery, who also scored a goal against DKIT’s senior side in last week’s league semi final, almost repeated the trick when his shot taken on the run from a neat move through the hands fizzed over the bar.

Another Corkery strike, was followed by a fine point from corner back Adam Byrne to make it 0-5 to 0-3 after 18 minutes.

In the run up to half time, DKIT turned up the heat to land three out of the next four scores, taking a 0-8 to 0-4 lead into half time.

Among the highlights was arguably the score of the match from Oisin McGorman, when the Latton O’Rahillys clubman connected beautifully with the outside of his boot from range.

Prior to this, Eoin O’Hanlon combined with Thomas MacNamara and Robert Gallagher to tee up John Joe Hughes for find the range from play. The Armagh man had also been denied by Carlow’s keeper Daire Phelan following another incisive move through the hands from DKIT.

DD Reilly concluded the scoring to leave DKIT, trading scores with Ben Corkery (f) to leave the Dundalk side four to the good at half time.

Second Half:

Despite being the first side to register on the scoreboard after the restart through John Joe Hughes (f), DKIT will still be disappointed to have allowed their opponents back into the game, with Carlow grabbing the next three scores to leave just one between the sides by the end of the third quarter.

SETU Carlow were starting to get on top at this stage, with Cailan Brady, Adam Byrne and Adam Kinsella helping them win 5 out of 9 on DKIT’s kickout in the second half.

From this, Ben Corkery profited, with two frees coming either side of a point from sub Patrick O’Connor.

DKIT ended their 12 minute scoring duck via Oisin McGorman (f) to make it 0-10 to 0-8, before further strikes from Kian Mulligan (45) and the excellent Cormac McKeown made it 0-12 to 0-7 in DKIT’s favour with 10 minutes remaining.

However, SETU Carlow were granted a lifeline when Ben Corkery won and converted a penalty to leave three between the sides, as they staged that late fightback outscoring DKIT by 1-3 to 0-1. This included a late free from the same player to send us into extra time.

By the end of half time in ET, DKIT trailed Carlow by 0-15 to 1-13, with Ben Corkery continuing to light up the stage from play and frees, this despite John Joe Hughes (f) and sub Oisin Hagan giving DKIT a two point lead early on.

However, DKIT dug deep to take deserved spoils, with three second half scores, including a crucial free from Oisin McGorman (f) from a challenging angle, as well as late scores from Thomas MacNamara and DD Reilly which put them into next week’s Fresher League final.

Dundalk IT: Kian Mulligan; Michael McCreesh, Conor McKenna, Darren McMullan; Jake Corrigan, Cormac McKeown (0-1), Eoin O’Hanlon (0-1); Robert Gallagher, Thomas MacNamara (0-1); Liam McCauley (0-1), Oisin McGorman (0-4) (2f), Fionn Connolly; Liam O’Hanlon, John Joe Hughes (0-5) (4f), DD Reilly (0-2).

Subs: Kyle Doherty for Liam O’Hanlon (45), Callum Shevlin for Connolly (HT), Charlie Murphy for Eoin O’Hanlon (ET), Oisin Hagan (0-1) for McCauley (ET).

SETU Carlow: Daire Phelan; Adam Byrne (0-1), Darragh Loughman, Dylan Friel; Adam Kinsella, Eoghan Slattery, Dara Connolly; Jimmy Carol, Luke Byrne; Ryan Phelan, Ross Harris, Cailan Brady; Ben Corkery (1-11) (1 pen) (7f), Bobby Daly, Alex Kavanagh.

Subs: Patrick O’Connor (0-1) for Connolly (35), Cillian Lowry for Harris (40), Matthew Jackson for Kinsella (53), Ben Curren for Kavanagh (53), Eoin Myers for Carol (56).

Referee: Stephen Fagan (Co. Wicklow).